Nepal creates free digital map for tourists

KATHMANDU (Xinhua) – Tourists visiting Nepal can now expect a much easier travel, thanks to digital support available in the country.

According to Monday's Republica daily, of late, software developers have introduced programs which tourists can use to find out details of tourist hubs, trekking routes, location of hotels, restaurants and other places on their mobile phone or Global Positioning System (GPS) device.

The best part of such programs is that the user needs no Internet access to use the services or pay any cost for them.

Nepal GPS Solution has recently created a digital map, placing maps of eight popular tourist destinations in GPS.

Map Editor and one of the founders of NepGS Bijay Dewan said that the company is making the service available for free during the Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

"We are mainly focusing on tourism but we plan to build maps of all the cities in the country and make them available to tourists for free," he said, "Users need not purchase a GPS device as the service can be used through smart phones as well. After downloading the maps from our website, users will have access to fully routable maps."

The option of fully routable maps allows users to find out the time required to travel the distance, the shortest possible distance and to navigate towards desired destination.